Wednesday Wishlist: Vintage Marta Maas Swedish Tapestry Rug

Rare Vintage Marta Maas Swedish Tapestry Rug

Vintage Swedish Tapestry Rug – This breathtaking vintage Swedish Tapestry rug is a stand out piece in the Nazmiyal collection. A mid-century design by legendary artist Marta Maas Fjetterstrom, the flat-woven carpet is unrivaled in its abstract elegance. Crafted with a similar technique to other rugs of the period, this is actually a tapestry.

“This is what textile art is all about, especially with the modernist twist” says Nazmiyal’s Omri Schwartz. He notes the arresting subtle nuances of the design that tell a story. “The eyes in the top left corner, they are looking away. You wonder what it’s trying to say.”

Vintage Marta Maas Swedish Tapestry Rug

Marta Maas Fjetterstrom’s was a leading figure in the Swedish textile world. Born in 1873, she studied and mastered the nationalistic and art nouveau style of weaving of the period. By 1919, she broke with tradition and developed a style all her own. Influenced by folk art and Oriental rugs, the new design reflects a vision of nature expressed and experienced with each line and form.

“She is a remarkable storyteller,” said Erik Wettergreen, director of the National Museum in Stockholm in 1934. “This hard-working weaver who finds her inspiration in legends and in meadows, from the Orient and from Scandinavia, from ancient faiths and from the freshest leaves, from biblical quotations and from buildings, from all that causes the imagination to bloom.”

Marta Maas Fjetterstrom’s works are among the most prized pieces of collectors, dealers and art aficionados worldwide. Her textiles can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Louvre in Paris.